'Supernatural' 200th episode delivers perfect love letter to the fans

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It’s no secret that the “Supernatural” audience is one of the most ardent fandoms in the television universe. They’ve spawned blogs and conventions. They have loved this show through 10 years of existence — enough to pull it out of that Season 6-7 rough patch and Friday-night timeslot and make it The CW’s longest-running current show.

So it makes sense that the “Supernatural” creators decided to make their 200th episode a love letter to the fans. Showrunner Jeremy Carver compares the “SPN Family” to the 12th man on a football team — “the show wouldn’t be what it is without them,” he says. Thus, “Fan Fiction” was born, a meta episode centered on a high school musical inspired by the Winchester brothers’ adventures.

What “Fan Fiction” shows is that the “Supernatural” team not only appreciates its fans, but also that it understands them. The episode gives shout-outs to favorite ‘ships (Destiel, you made it!) and long-lost characters (sorry you’re still in hell, Adam). To quote every inside joke would mean quoting the entire script, but there were a few home-run moments that need to be highlighted.

1. Destiel

For those not in the know, Destiel refers to the OTP coupling of Dean and Castiel. For years fans have insisted that the bond the Winchester brother and his guardian angel (of sorts) share is filled with homoerotic subtext. In later seasons it’s enough to make you wonder if the writing crew creates scenes for Dean and Castiel just to tease fans — and in “Fan Fiction” they confirmed they’ve heard the Destiel cries loud and clear.

It’s not just the mention that Destiel exists (or Sam’s perfectly indignant, “What about Sastiel?”). It’s Jensen Ackles breaking the fourth wall when Marie, the director of the musical, explains that Destiel is all about subtext — “and you can’t spell subtext without s-e-x.”

Ackles admitted during his live tweet of the episode that the look to the camera wasn’t scripted — he added it in just for fans.

2. Calliope

Calliope is the Greek goddess of music and poetry that is haunting the “Supernatural” musical — waiting for it to be realized before she eats the author. When Sam ends up locked in the boiler room with her though, Calliope becomes the SPN Family personified. “So why ‘Supernatural’?” Sam asks, to which Calliope unveils the perfect answer:

“‘Supernatural’ has everything. Life, death, resurrection, redemption, but above all, family. All set to music you can tap your toes to. It isn’t some meandering piece of genre’d wreck. It’s epic.”

If that only caused “A Single Man Tear,” then it may be time to question if you are a soulless demon.

3. The return of Chuck

Sam and Dean riding off into the sunset with the Samulet hanging from the rearview mirror would have been a touching ending — but it wouldn’t have been a very “Supernatural” one. Instead, fans were delivered a jaw-dropping button five seasons in the making. The publisher ticket was picked up, and when Marie asks what he thought of the show, audiences find out it’s Chuck!

Not only is Chuck the writer of the Winchester gospels, but it is also a very popular theory in “Supernatural” that Chuck is God — who disappeared after the apocalypse in Season 5. So not only is Chuck not dead, but maybe fans will finally get answers about Chuck’s true identity. And what did God think of the musical?

Between the meta jokes and the touching one-liners, “Supernatural” wrote a beautiful letter to its fans. For any show out there wondering how to go the long haul, maybe they should pay attention here. When you develop this strong of a connection with the people who watch your show, when you find ways to tell them you appreciate their support and love them as much as they love you, they stick with you.